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There have been flashes of grooviness in Tune-Yards' previous recordings—"Riotriot" and "Doorstep" from 2011's Whokill come to mind—but it took until 2021's Sketchy for this notion to settle into an obvious stylistic direction. As a result of being cooped up during the pandemic (and dancing to George Clinton with their 3-year-old), Merrill Garbus and her partner in life and music, Nate Brenner, have made Better Dreaming, which they describe as, "life-affirming art-pop of the apocalypse …. [music that] would enter the ear and immediately loosen up the joints, get the whole body wiggling." Garbus ascends to the level of soul shouter at times. Over "Heartbreak"'s easy groove, she belts Minnie Riperton-style soarings like, "Broken apart I feel some space inside/ Watch me survive another." She's direct about today's societal currents in "Swarm," where she tries to rouse better angels: "Promise not to be selfish/ Practice now ‘cause you'll need it/ Promise you can be changed." A cooler ‘60s pop vibe pervades the smooth "Never Look Back," which combines Brenner's bass, clavinet sounds and handclaps with Garbus' vocals, percussion and Prophet-6 analog synthesizer. More Prophet-6 shimmers appear in the hurdy-gurdy rhythms of "Suspended," along with tape samples, Chris Weisman's guitars and Ben Goldberg's clarinet. Samples of their child laughing and speaking are sprinkled across many tracks. And Phish guitarist Trey Anastasio puts in a cameo in "Sanctuary," where Garbus calmly asserts, "I'm gonna stay low and slow and let go of the climb." Gospel-like chanting grows in volume and mass, and Garbus' delivery intensifies as she exhorts, "This is where you sing your own gospel/ This is where you sing yourself into existence." © Robert Baird/Qobuz
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Joe LaPorta, MasteringEngineer - Merrill Garbus, Producer, Engineer, Programmer, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - Nate Brenner, Composer, Producer, Engineer, AssociatedPerformer - Kobalt Music Publishing, MusicPublisher - tUnE-yArDs, MainArtist - Eli Crews, MixingEngineer - Naytronix Media, MusicPublisher - Garbus The Owl (ASCAP), MusicPublisher - CMRRA, MusicPublisher - Leo Brenner, StudioMusician
2025 4AD under exclusive license from Tune-Yards 2024 4AD Ltd
Joe LaPorta, MasteringEngineer - Ben Goldberg, StudioMusician - Merrill Garbus, Producer, Engineer, Programmer, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - Nate Brenner, Composer, Producer, Engineer, AssociatedPerformer - Kobalt Music Publishing, MusicPublisher - Jenn Wasner, StudioMusician - tUnE-yArDs, MainArtist - Eli Crews, MixingEngineer - Naytronix Media, MusicPublisher - Hamir Atwal, StudioMusician - Garbus The Owl (ASCAP), MusicPublisher - CMRRA, MusicPublisher - Ameliah Meath, StudioMusician
2025 4AD under exclusive license from Tune-Yards 2024 4AD Ltd
Joe LaPorta, MasteringEngineer - Merrill Garbus, Producer, Engineer, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - Nate Brenner, Composer, Producer, Engineer, Programmer, AssociatedPerformer - Kobalt Music Publishing, MusicPublisher - tUnE-yArDs, MainArtist - Eli Crews, MixingEngineer - Naytronix Media, MusicPublisher - Garbus The Owl (ASCAP), MusicPublisher - CMRRA, MusicPublisher
2025 4AD under exclusive license from Tune-Yards 2024 4AD Ltd
Joe LaPorta, MasteringEngineer - Ben Goldberg, StudioMusician - Merrill Garbus, Producer, Engineer, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - Nate Brenner, Composer, Producer, Engineer, AssociatedPerformer - Kobalt Music Publishing, MusicPublisher - tUnE-yArDs, MainArtist - Eli Crews, MixingEngineer - Naytronix Media, MusicPublisher - Chris Weisman, StudioMusician - Garbus The Owl (ASCAP), MusicPublisher - CMRRA, MusicPublisher
2025 4AD under exclusive license from Tune-Yards 2024 4AD Ltd
Joe LaPorta, MasteringEngineer - Michael Coleman, StudioMusician - Merrill Garbus, Producer, Engineer, Programmer, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - Nate Brenner, Composer, Producer, Engineer, AssociatedPerformer - Kobalt Music Publishing, MusicPublisher - tUnE-yArDs, MainArtist - Eli Crews, MixingEngineer - Naytronix Media, MusicPublisher - Garbus The Owl (ASCAP), MusicPublisher - Ross Peacock, StudioMusician - CMRRA, MusicPublisher - Mark Allen Piccolo, StudioMusician - Melody Parker, StudioMusician - Casio Coleman, StudioMusician - Leo Brenner, StudioMusician - Sonia Reiter, StudioMusician
2025 4AD under exclusive license from Tune-Yards 2024 4AD Ltd
Joe LaPorta, MasteringEngineer - Merrill Garbus, Producer, Engineer, Programmer, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - Nate Brenner, Composer, Producer, Engineer, AssociatedPerformer - Kobalt Music Publishing, MusicPublisher - tUnE-yArDs, MainArtist - Eli Crews, MixingEngineer - Naytronix Media, MusicPublisher - Garbus The Owl (ASCAP), MusicPublisher - Ayo Awosika, StudioMusician - CMRRA, MusicPublisher - Toni Hartley, StudioMusician - Patricia Preware, StudioMusician
2025 4AD under exclusive license from Tune-Yards 2024 4AD Ltd
Joe LaPorta, MasteringEngineer - Merrill Garbus, Producer, Engineer, Programmer, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - Nate Brenner, Composer, Producer, Engineer, AssociatedPerformer - Kobalt Music Publishing, MusicPublisher - tUnE-yArDs, MainArtist - Eli Crews, MixingEngineer - Naytronix Media, MusicPublisher - Garbus The Owl (ASCAP), MusicPublisher - CMRRA, MusicPublisher
2025 4AD under exclusive license from Tune-Yards 2024 4AD Ltd
Joe LaPorta, MasteringEngineer - Merrill Garbus, Producer, Engineer, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - Nate Brenner, Composer, Producer, Engineer, Programmer, AssociatedPerformer - Kobalt Music Publishing, MusicPublisher - tUnE-yArDs, MainArtist - Eli Crews, MixingEngineer - Naytronix Media, MusicPublisher - Garbus The Owl (ASCAP), MusicPublisher - CMRRA, MusicPublisher - Daniel Brevil, StudioMusician
2025 4AD under exclusive license from Tune-Yards 2024 4AD Ltd
Joe LaPorta, MasteringEngineer - Merrill Garbus, Producer, Engineer, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - Nate Brenner, Composer, Producer, Engineer, AssociatedPerformer - Kobalt Music Publishing, MusicPublisher - tUnE-yArDs, MainArtist - Eli Crews, MixingEngineer - Naytronix Media, MusicPublisher - Garbus The Owl (ASCAP), MusicPublisher - CMRRA, MusicPublisher
2025 4AD under exclusive license from Tune-Yards 2024 4AD Ltd
Joe LaPorta, MasteringEngineer - Merrill Garbus, Producer, Engineer, Programmer, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - Nate Brenner, Composer, Producer, Engineer, AssociatedPerformer - Kobalt Music Publishing, MusicPublisher - tUnE-yArDs, MainArtist - Eli Crews, MixingEngineer - Naytronix Media, MusicPublisher - Garbus The Owl (ASCAP), MusicPublisher - CMRRA, MusicPublisher
2025 4AD under exclusive license from Tune-Yards 2024 4AD Ltd
Trey Anastasio, StudioMusician - Joe LaPorta, MasteringEngineer - Ben Goldberg, StudioMusician - Moira Smiley, StudioMusician - Merrill Garbus, Producer, Engineer, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - Nate Brenner, Composer, Producer, Engineer, Programmer, AssociatedPerformer - Kobalt Music Publishing, MusicPublisher - tUnE-yArDs, MainArtist - Eli Crews, MixingEngineer - Naytronix Media, MusicPublisher - Garbus The Owl (ASCAP), MusicPublisher - CMRRA, MusicPublisher - Sharon Udoh, StudioMusician
2025 4AD under exclusive license from Tune-Yards 2024 4AD Ltd
Review: Better Dreaming - tUnE-yArDs
There have been flashes of grooviness in Tune-Yards' previous recordings—"Riotriot" and "Doorstep" from 2011's Whokill come to mind—but it took until 2021's Sketchy for this notion to settle into an obvious stylistic direction. As a result of being cooped up during the pandemic (and dancing to George Clinton with their 3-year-old), Merrill Garbus and her partner in life and music, Nate Brenner, have made Better Dreaming, which they describe as, "life-affirming art-pop of the apocalypse …. [music that] would enter the ear and immediately loosen up the joints, get the whole body wiggling." Garbus ascends to the level of soul shouter at times. Over "Heartbreak"'s easy groove, she belts Minnie Riperton-style soarings like, "Broken apart I feel some space inside/ Watch me survive another." She's direct about today's societal currents in "Swarm," where she tries to rouse better angels: "Promise not to be selfish/ Practice now ‘cause you'll need it/ Promise you can be changed." A cooler ‘60s pop vibe pervades the smooth "Never Look Back," which combines Brenner's bass, clavinet sounds and handclaps with Garbus' vocals, percussion and Prophet-6 analog synthesizer. More Prophet-6 shimmers appear in the hurdy-gurdy rhythms of "Suspended," along with tape samples, Chris Weisman's guitars and Ben Goldberg's clarinet. Samples of their child laughing and speaking are sprinkled across many tracks. And Phish guitarist Trey Anastasio puts in a cameo in "Sanctuary," where Garbus calmly asserts, "I'm gonna stay low and slow and let go of the climb." Gospel-like chanting grows in volume and mass, and Garbus' delivery intensifies as she exhorts, "This is where you sing your own gospel/ This is where you sing yourself into existence." © Robert Baird/Qobuz
About the album
- 1 disc(s) - 11 track(s)
- Total length: 00:39:36
- Main artists: Tune-Yards
- Composer: Various Composers
- Label: 4AD
- Genre: Pop/Rock Rock Alternative & Indie
2025 4AD under exclusive license from Tune-Yards 2025 4AD under exclusive license from Tune-Yards
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